Thesis

All East Asian Studies M.A. students must submit a Master's Thesis representing a substantial piece of original research.  

Requirements

The submitted thesis must meet the following requirements:

  • 10,000 words minimum, excluding references, citations, appendices, etc.
  • Submitted online to the East Asian Studies Thesis Collection within the Stanford Digital Repository by the standard university thesis deadline and by following the  CEAS SDR Deposit Instructions
    • If the faculty adviser also requires a printed, bound version to be submitted, theses should be bound using "strip binding" with a clear plastic cover and black plastic back cover (can be done at Kinko's on campus)
  • Containing the adviser's signature on the Standard Thesis Title Page

Thesis Proposal

Students must submit an approved thesis proposal and literature review by the end of the quarter prior to the quarter in which they intend to graduate.  The proposal is the statement of the research question, the rationale for the research, the theoretical and empirical background that the student is bringing to bear, and the methodology.  The 5-10 page proposal must be reviewed and approved by the student's adviser.  The Thesis Proposal and Literature Review Guidelines contain the cover page for the proposal, which must be printed out, approved, and signed by the student's adviser, and submitted to CEAS.  

Campus Resources

Students may find it valuable to review past submitted thesis topics in our thesis database.  Submitted theses are also available to read in the CEAS Offices.

Recent Thesis Topics

Shielded Grandeur: A Conversation between Daoism and Frankfurt School in Chen Chuncheng’s Short Stories
ZHONG, Mia Yiyin | 2023 | 493
REGION: China | Ban Wang, East Asian Languages and Cultures
Navigating Place, Gender, and Desire: A Study of Strangers in Bupyeong District, Incheon, South Korea
LEE, Jiah | 2023 | 492
REGION: Korea | Sharika Thiranagama , Anthropology
Controlled Discrimination: The Perceptions and Policies of Sino-Muslims and the High Qing Statecraft
LAN, XIAOPENG | 2023 | 491
REGION: China | Matthew Sommer, History
Reframing US-China strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific: the role and agency of Southeast Asian nations
ZHOU, XiaoJian Jenn | 2023 | 490
REGION: East Asia | Michael McFaul; Scot Marciel, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies